I kept my promise to myself.
I stopped asking questions.
I stopped asking who called him.
I stopped asking who sent the messages.
I stopped asking what Alberta wanted.
If James wanted to tell me, he would.
If he didn't, I wasn't going to force him.
But choosing silence did not mean I stopped noticing things.
In fact, I noticed more.
I noticed how quickly he turned his phone over whenever a message came in.
I noticed how his expression changed whenever Alberta's name appeared.
I noticed how he sometimes smiled at his screen and then suddenly became serious when he realized I was looking.
I noticed how he started coming home later.
And I noticed how he no longer seemed bothered by my silence.
Before, whenever I became quiet, he would ask what was wrong.
Now, sometimes he didn't even notice.
That hurt.
One evening, he came home almost an hour later than usual.
I was sitting in the room when he entered.
He dropped his bag and greeted me.
"I'm home."
I looked at him.
"Welcome."
He smiled.
"You didn't eat?"
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"I was waiting."
He looked surprised.
"For me?"
I nodded.
Something softened in his expression.
"I'm sorry."
I shrugged.
"It's okay."
He sat down beside me.
For a few minutes, we talked normally.
I almost forgot everything.
Then his phone vibrated.
He looked at it.
His entire expression changed.
He reached for the phone immediately.
I looked away.
I wasn't going to ask.
A few seconds later, he stood up.
"I'll be back."
"Where are you going?"
"To make a call."
I nodded.
He walked outside.
I sat there alone.
I could hear his voice faintly through the window.
I couldn't hear what he was saying.
And I didn't want to.
I had made my decision.
When he returned, he acted as though nothing had happened.
I didn't question him.
He looked at me.
"You're quiet."
"I'm fine."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
He smiled slightly.
But something about that smile didn't feel the same anymore.
Days passed.
The pattern continued.
He went to work.
He came home.
He talked to me.
But there was always something missing.
A part of him seemed to remain at school.
And I began to wonder whether that part had anything to do with Alberta.
I remembered how he had once told me she was disturbing him.
Yet the more time passed, the more I wondered why someone he supposedly wanted nothing to do with had so much access to him.
She called.
She texted.
She brought food.
She became angry when he didn't attend the excursion.
And now James was hiding their conversations.
It was becoming difficult to convince myself that everything was completely normal.
Still, I said nothing.
One afternoon, I was sitting outside when James came home.
He looked unusually happy.
I watched him enter.
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
"You look happy."
He laughed.
"Can't I be happy?"
"You can."
He sat beside me.
For a while, everything felt normal.
Then he received a message.
This time, he didn't hide his smile.
I looked at him.
He noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
He put the phone away.
I didn't ask.
He stared at me.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like you know something."
I smiled.
"I don't know anything."
He laughed.
But his laughter sounded nervous.
That was when I realized something.
My silence was making him uncomfortable.
Perhaps he had become accustomed to me asking questions.
Perhaps he expected me to confront him.
But I wasn't going to.
I wanted to see what he would do when nobody was forcing him to explain himself.
That evening, he told me Alberta had been at school.
I simply nodded.
"Okay."
He looked at me.
"You're not going to ask anything?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because there's nothing to ask."
He stared at me.
Then he smiled.
"You've changed."
I looked at him.
"Maybe."
I didn't tell him why.
I didn't tell him that I was tired.
I didn't tell him that every hidden message hurt me.
I didn't tell him that every late arrival made me wonder.
I didn't tell him that I was afraid.
I simply watched.
And the more I watched, the more I realized that sometimes people reveal themselves when they think nobody is paying attention.
That night, while James slept, I sat quietly beside him.
I looked at the man I loved.
I remembered how happy I had once been simply knowing he was mine.
Now, I was lying beside him wondering whether I truly knew him at all.
I wiped a tear from my cheek.
I wasn't going to accuse him.
I wasn't going to fight Alberta.
I wasn't going to compete with another woman.
But I was also not going to ignore my heart.
Something had changed.
I could feel it.
And whatever was happening between James and Alberta was slowly becoming impossible to hide.
I just needed to know how far it had gone.
And for the first time, I was afraid that when the truth finally came out…
I might not recognize the man standing in front of me.